A
coalition of states and
environmental groups
intends
to sue the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) “if it does not
act
soon to reduce pollution from ships, aircraft and off-road vehicles.”
California Attorney General Jerry Brown is set to send a letter to the
EPA in
which he will “accuse the Bush administration of ignoring
their requests to set
restrictions” on greenhouse gas
emissions. The EPA will have 180
days to respond. Under
the Clean Air Act, “a U.S. district court can compel the EPA to take action to protect the
public’s
welfare if the agency delays doing so for an unreasonably
long time.”

“It’s
a necessary pressure to
get the job done,” Brown said of
the lawsuit. “The issue of reducing our energy
dependence and greenhouse gas emissions is so challenging and so
important that
we have to follow this judicial pathway.”

22 members of the US House of Representatives have introduced the National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act that would lift many restrictions on offshore oil drilling, while providing a projected $2.6 trillion in lease and royalty payments that would generate $390 million for a Renewable Energy Reserve Act. The bill introduced by 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans would open up all protected Outer Continental Shelf lands and end the oil shale leasing moratorium. The bill is in sharp contravention of Democratic leadership but in line with Republican demands.

Drawdown of light grade petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with $100 million going into LIHEAP, $60 million for university research, $15 million for wind research, $30 million for solar research, $30 million for hydro research, $40 million for automotive research, $110 million for industrial emissions research, $70 million for building efficiency R&D, $30 million for geothermal R&D, $30 million for smart grid R&D, $385 million for CCS R&D, $65 million for natural gas extraction research, $5 million for a hydrogen prize, $100 million for battery research